Music History
Spring 2013 Classes
1/14/13
* Pergolesi and Opera Buffa handout done by Todd Martin (handout) * Pergolesi was still composing on his death bed (died at the age of 26) * Intermezzo-The Maid as Mistress is his best known piece * Page 488 for examples with Pergolesi and his intermezzo

1/15/13 * NAWM 101-Differences in recitative-continuo functions as only chords and not so much tension; more instrumental involvement (strings-their run on page 4); rhythmic activity dramatically increased; “rips”; opening ritornello; * Make sure to read section in book on this

1/16/13 * Opera Buffa * Melody was popular sounds * Harmony was very simple * Form has recitative semplice (continuo) alternating with da capo aria * Ensemble finales, simple binary/ternary form * Texture is very lean but not just continuo lean but small forces; usually strings divided into no more than three parts (usually) * Opera Buffa near the end of the 18th century * Orchestra expands near the end of the 18th century * Voice classifications (same types of voicing) are the same as opera seria at the end of the 18th century; more use of voices * Small getting BIG……………. * Use of extended forms and not so much of virtuosic solo singing * Rhythm many finales divide into sections with their own styles, speed, and time signatures * Examples of Composers Opera Buffa * Venetian * Buldasscre Galuppi * Il mondo della luna * Neapolitan * Giovanni Psisiell * Il barbiere di siviglia * 1720’s opera cast was divided into two characters, parte buffa and parte seria * Leading male was often left for a bass * Mozart brought opera buffa to new heights using real human beings caught up in their own problems and issues…..in an attempt to make it more real * Opera Seria and the Aria by Molly Bennett (handout) * NAWM 2 in yellow book Johann Adolf Hasse * Opera Seria * Contained serious subjects without comic scenes or characters. * Style of Italian opera * Was popular throughout Europe except for France, where the French opera was preferred * Pietro Mestastasio was a poet who set the standard for opera seria. * Many of the eighteenth-century composers set his dramas to music. * Two popular composers would be Gluck and Mozart * He was avery successful in Naples, Rome, and Venice * These successes lead to his appointment as the court poet in Vienna in 1729 * He remained in Vienna the rest of his life * Librettos * His librettos often presented conflicts of human passions * Many were based on ancient Greek or Latin tales * His operas were intended to promote morality through entertainment

1/18/13 * Haydn and Gluck * 1714-1809 * Vienna * Dramatic effects * Plot * Series of tableaus rather than a connected story * Artificial endings…makes ending that fits more with times not actual story * 8 comic operas (Gluck) * 4 series * 4 marionette * Focused on one idea no sub plots or intrigue or disguise * Thought * Could be light hearted and sentimental * A combination of series and comic within a single characterization * Character * Departed from mythology and historical tradition * Human characters * Chorus is part of the drama * The lower orders—classes * Stock comic characters (from Italian comedy) * Diction * Vernacular * Plainness preferred * Theatrical effects * Less about spectacular * Most machinery was with the marionettes